Yemen and Socotra

Somewhere I have wanted to visit for years and lived up to all aspirations and pre-conceived ideas. Amazing. Steeped in ancient history, villages built for defence built on hill tops, desert palaces and an Arabian Nights atmosphere in Sanaa. Despite perceptions created by the western media it was a very welcoming and hospitable country. The altitude and climate, together with an inimitable feel made it an ideal place to take photographs. Sanaa, claims to be one of the oldest cities in the World and the first high rise city! Its wedding cake architecture, bustling markets, narrow cobbled streets create an indelible image in your mind. Yemen is perceptually a haven for extremism, yet all I experienced was genuine warmth and friendliness. The media have kept the tourists away from one of the best travel destinations on Earth. Socotra is an ‘other worldly’ island owned by Yemen in the Indian ocean. It is actually closer to Somalia. A little like Madagascar it has had a long period of geological separation from the Arabian peninsula and its bizarre assemblage of plants reflect this. It receives only a handful of tourists each year and remains, as a result, largely untouched. It is pristine, beautiful and unforgettable.